WHITTIER – A medical marijuana dispensary, which has been open since September 2005, may have to close in fewer than two years.

The Whittier Collective, 12450-A Washington Blvd. is in an area where the zoning doesn’t allow for medical marijuana dispensaries.

The Planning Commission late Monday was considering a proposal that would give such businesses in areas where they’re not allowed two years before they must move.

The Whittier Collective can’t be forced to move immediately because it was in existence before the city’s medical marijuana law was approved in January, said Jeff Collier, director of community development.

The proposed ordinance would give the Whittier Collective a year from Feb. 9 to continue operating and allow for a one-year extension.

“Staff believes \ provides a reasonable time frame for the amortization of all existing, non-conforming medical marijuana dispensaries within the city,” stated Collier in a written staff report.

The proposal – if approved by the commission – would next go to the City Council.

Before December, when the City Council began discussing its ordinance regulating medical marijuana, no one from the city even knew the Whittier Collective existed in the Washington-Whittier Medical Center.

During December’s public hearing, representatives of the Whittier Collective came to the council during the public hearing.

The center is across the street from the Tri-Cities Regional Occupational Program for high school students. The law – approved in January – says any such dispensaries must be no closer than 1,000 feet to a school.

The law also prohibits anyone under the age of 21 from entering a marijuana dispensary. It also limits hours of operation to 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., and requires the facilities to provide security guards.

The Whittier Collective would have to meet those standards under the proposed new law.

Medical marijuana dispensaries have been legal under state law since 1996 when California voters passed Proposition 215 which allows marijuana to be used for medical purposes.

Mike Sprague started at the Whittier Daily News in April 1984. Since then, Sprague has covered every city in the Whittier Daily News circulation area, as well as political and water issues. Sprague received a bachelor's degree in communications and a master's degree in political science, both from Cal State Fullerton.